Knowra Stone carving Stone carving Stone carving is the practice of shaping stone by removing material with tools to make sculpture, architectural details, inscriptions, or decorative objects. Its subtractive process makes each cut difficult or impossible to reverse.
Point chisel : A pointed steel chisel used to break away stone and establish rough forms. It removes large amounts of stone early in carving, before finer shaping begins.
Petrology : The branch of geology that studies rocks, their composition, origin, and structure. Rock composition and structure explain why different stones respond differently to carving.
Venus of Willendorf : A small Upper Paleolithic figurine carved from oolitic limestone and found in Austria. It is an early surviving example of a deliberately shaped stone figure.
Relief : Sculpture in which forms project from a continuous background surface. Relief carving creates images and ornament on walls, monuments, and panels.
Modeling (sculpture) : A sculptural process that forms a shape by adding or manipulating pliable material. Modeling builds form through addition, unlike stone carving's irreversible subtraction.
Claw chisel : A toothed chisel that cuts parallel grooves into stone. Its ridged marks reduce mass while leaving a surface that can be refined or retained.
Marble : A crystalline metamorphic rock composed mainly of recrystallized carbonate minerals. Its workable texture and capacity for fine finish made it a major sculptural stone.
Göbekli Tepe : A prehistoric archaeological site in southeastern Turkey, known for monumental carved stone pillars. Its reliefs show stone carving used in monumental architecture during the tenth millennium BCE.
Architectural sculpture : Sculpture integrated with buildings, including carved ornament and figurative elements. Stone carving supplies capitals, portals, friezes, and other architectural features.
Casting : A manufacturing process that forms an object by pouring material into a mold and letting it solidify. Casting reproduces forms through a mold rather than carving each form from a solid block.
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